Switch Limited, a technology infrastructure ecosystem corporation based in Las Vegas, Nevada, filed a Development of Regional Impact application with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs on Tuesday for a proposed 126-acre facility south of the intersection of Old Alabama Rd and Bates Rd to the Paulding County line within the City of Cartersville. The estimated value to build the facility is $772 million, with estimated annual local tax revenues likely to be generated by the proposed development being $15 million.
Cartersville City Planner David Hardegree says the DRI is a 30-day public review process that should officially start on Friday. After 30 days, the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission will collect any received comments and create a report. During the 30 days, the City of Cartersville will evaluate a zoning application and a text amendment application.
Switch runs giant data storage warehouses for huge companies like Amazon or Microsoft. The text amendment is needed because the city does not have an existing zoning district to accommodate a data center campus that Switch envisions for the property.
This property that Switch is targeting was part of the future phases of the Carter Grove subdivision. Hardegree says that when developers conceived Carter Grove in the early 2000s, they envisioned it as a giant neighborhood with as many as he thinks were 2,500 homes. Currently, there are about just over 400 lots. If this project is approved, it would stunt the growth of Carter Grove. It would somehow have to go westward if it was going to expand.
The DRI application is in the two links below:
https://apps.dca.ga.gov/DRI/InitialForm.aspx?driid=4061
https://apps.dca.ga.gov/DRI/AdditionalForm.aspx?driid=4061
The City of Cartersville will also post information on the website cityofcartersville.org/meetings in about six to nine days once the text amendment and zoning applications are complete.